Timer
by BonneyQ
Summary: [Timer!AU] "If a clock could count down to the moment you meet your soul mate, would you want to know?"


**AN:** The readers have spoken. The readers have been heard. The readers shall have it.

While I was writing this, I had my mind set on the 'soul mate' thing, and it is amazing how all their behavior towards each other makes perfect sense.

(You can see the 'art' for it here: post/88185597603/based-on-this-both-looked-down-to-their-wrists )

**#**

"_If a clock could count down to the moment you meet your soul mate, would you want to know?"_

**Timer**

**#**

Both looked down to their wrists where a burning pain caught their attention. The clock that counted down the time until they were supposed to meet their soul mates was surprisingly still.

**0Y 0D 0H 0M 0S**

What? It couldn't be! The clock was at zero? Did that mean that the person standing in front of them was their soul mate? No. They were enemies: she's from Phantom Lord and he is from Fairy Tail. They are total opposites!

Their eyes locked and they could read the other's mind perfectly even if they had just met: '_Why you?_'

All they could do for a moment was to look at each other, not exactly knowing what to do: one doesn't simply meet their mate and keep trying to kill them without at least think about it for a few seconds.

She was the first one to move away, not trusting herself to fight him, not after just learning that he was supposed to be the man of her life. Plus, he was just too handsome and her heart insisted on going _doki-doki_ even before she felt the burning. Juvia needed to think: she never felt that way before.

By instinct, he called out to her and reached for her; once the words came out of his mouth, Gray cursed internally and wished he had just kept quiet but when she turned around and attacked him, it was decided that their Clocks would be ignored. They were enemies first, soul mates later. Plus, Lucy was still a prisoner and the woman's guild was attacking Fairy Tail and his priority was to stop it, he was not going to stop just because their watches stopped at the same time. He didn't know her, she meant nothing to him. She was the enemy.

Juvia fought reluctantly until he talked about another woman. Something primal inside her roared in protest and green-eyed jealousy as it finest. Did she have a rival in love? Did he have a girlfriend even though he was her soul mate?

That was _not_ acceptable.

She boiled with anger: _literally_ boiled her body with anger, frustration and jealousy. Her soul mate was surprised that she even had that ability, and to tell the truth, so was she – no one has ever made her react in such passionate way and it was a very foreign feeling, the one of not being in control.

They fought and maybe that wasn't the best way to react after Zeroing the Clock, but each relationship was unique, some more than others.

Gray finally had enough and tried to stop her the best he could and she was surprised that her boiling water had been frozen (and for a moment, so did he), but all the smugness of freezing her had been short, after all, somehow, his hand ended up squeezing her breast.

The Ice Mage had never blushed so hard and was so quick to retreat his hand off of an enemy before. Even though that was surely the highlight of the fight, Gray couldn't just keep squeezing it. He apologized and released her from the ice.

He was so nice, Juvia thought as she stared at him with wonder; he released her from the ice!

Juvia surrendered. What else could she do? He was her soul mate, he was kind and brave and loyal and it didn't hurt that he was _very_ handsome. When she tried to tell him that, that the Clock might be right and that she was already in love with him like it was supposed to happen, Gray complained about her rain.

Everyone complained about it, after all, who liked pouring rain rather than a beautiful sunny day?

Maybe he wasn't the one for her. Maybe the Clock got it wrong. Juvia was an Element Four! A Mage of Phantom Lord, and yet…

…she lost. She never lost before, that's why she earned the Element Four title and yet, that man bested her.

While the blue haired mage lay down, wondering what happened, she saw the most magnificent sight: the clear blue sky. Not the usual gray clouds, just… blue.

"The rain… has stopped." She whispered in amazement and Juvia heard the man say something, but all that matters was looking at the soft blue of the sky. It was so beautiful, so pure, no wonder people hated her rain so much.

"So…" His voice draws her attention "Ya still want more?" His smirk and smug expression was so very beautiful, but his words struck her. More? She barely survived that one! But the playful way he said it, mad her think that there was some innuendo behind those words and she felt light headed for a moment and she fell back on the floor.

Gray studied her form for a moment. _So, that's the one I supposedly have been waiting for eighteen years?_ The Fairy Tail Mage wondered, and decided that even if he didn't believe on the Clocks, she was pretty when not boiling.

"What's your name?" He asked. "The one with no titles."

She stared at him for a moment before answering. "Juvia. Juvia Lockser."

The Ice Mage raised his right wrist and stared at the stilled zeroed numbers and, for the first time in years he wondered if it was real. Most of their friends had their Clocks zeroed but none had started a relationship with their intended and some didn't even tell who their soul mates were, even if everyone had a strong opinion about it.

No, that was bullshit. It didn't mean anything. The Clocks were just an ancient thing that didn't work anymore and never would.

"I am Gray Fullbuster." The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them and once more, their eyes locked and what he saw in her eyes were questions that he was unable to answer, so, he walked away. He had to save Lucy; anything else was a distraction he couldn't afford.

Juvia saw him leave and her attention returned to the blue sky and the feeling of the sun on her skin. Who was that man who had given her the thing she wanted the most? She was going to find out. Just as soon as she enjoyed the warmth, of course.

**#**

She helped when Erza was taken. Juvia wasn't supposed to be there – Loki had given them the tickets to a Resort Hotel – but there she was. To say that he was surprised to see her there was an understatement, but as soon as the surprise wore off, he asked her to sit by his side and they ordered drinks and between them, not an ounce of hostility.

Gray took in her appearance and once again he thought that she indeed looked beautiful, and she cut rather a figure wearing that dress, which was more flattering than the clothes she wore before.

"I heard that Phantom disbanded or something like that…" Gray said, his body turned towards hers.

"Yes…" The blunette answered with a sigh and then looked up to look at him with a soft smile. "Juvia is once again an independent Mage."

His gaze went to her cleavage where a golden pendant of his Guild's logo laid. "And I'm guessing you have your eyes set on Fairy Tail?"

"Very much so!" Juvia blushed.

"But you know, after the stunt you guys just pulled…" Gray tried to reason with her. "I mean, I wouldn't mind, but I wonder what Master would say…" Dammit, he wasn't supposed to say that! He was supposed to mind, of course: she had kidnapped his friend and tried to destroy his guild, and yet he supported the idea of her joining Fairy Tail? He resisted the urge of looking down to the Clock and wondered if it was it's doing, the soul mate thing working.

"Juvia will do anything!" She said, eagerly and Gray saw the hope in her eyes. Damn, she had beautiful eyes.

"Even if you say that…" The Fairy Tail Mage was interrupted when a large man stepped behind them, an evil intent irradiating from him. Both Gray and Juvia looked over their shoulders and, unexpectedly, the man smacked Juvia on the face. "Wh-" Gray couldn't even let the word out when he heard her surprised scream. "Juvia!" He yelled as he saw her fall on the ground. Anger started to boil inside him, how dared that man to hurt his soul mate?, Gray thought and would revisit his use of the words inside his head later. "You trying to pick a fight?"

"Gray Fullbuster, if I'm not mistaken?" The man said and Gray narrowed his eyes. What the…? "Where is Erza?"

"What?" Gray asked, confused.

"Where is she?"

"Who the hell are you?" The Ice Mage's anger was barely contained, but it was momentarily replaced by surprise when Juvia's water form appeared in front of him, her arms opened in a protective stand.

"Juvia won't let you lay a finger on Gray-sama." The blue haired mage said, much to Gray's surprise. "Juvia will be your opponent."

"Juvia…" Gray said, trying to tell her that she didn't have to, By the way her arms were opened, he could see the zeroed Watch on her wrist, _he_ was supposed to protect her, not the other way around.

"Go and find Erza-san. She's in danger." Juvia said and Gray was suddenly aware that Erza could be in more danger than the blunette could be, but even so he didn't want to leave the other woman.

Their attention was caught when the man raised his hand to his head and appeared to talk with someone. "You've already found her? Oh? Is that so…" He said. "Then… Mind if I tidy things up on my end? Understood."

Then all the light went out, and, by pure instinct to save her, Gray pushed her to stay behind him. "Wh-What's going on?"

"Lineage of Darkness Magic, Instant Darkness." There was a loud noise and the female Mage yelled as the man attacked them.

**#**

When Lucy came in and saw Gray 'dead', she panicked but was suddenly scared of the Water Woman releasing her friend from inside her body and then, telling the blonde with mean eyes, that Gray had been _inside_ her, the man ignored the words.

"It got dark all of a sudden, so I figured I'd make a close and go check out the situation…" The Ice Mage said.

"Juvia protected Gray-sama with her Water Lock so that the enemy wouldn't find him." Juvia was very proud of herself, but groaned in pain with his next words.

"That was a waste of time! You gave 'em time to run away!" He knew that snapping at her wasn't fair, after all she just wanted to protect him, but Gray never dealt too well with either being protected nor feeling helpless. "More importantly, what about Natsu and Erza?"

Lucy looked down, sad. "I don't know about Natsu, but Erza…" A sudden pillar of fire interrupted them and Natsu ran away and the other three followed to get to the red haired woman as fast as they could. Not too long after it, Natsu's nose tracked Erza towards the sea and the four of them were on a canoe, the Dragon Slayer feeling sick with the motion, Lucy by his side while Juvia sat on the opposite direction as Gray stood up, feeling very frustrated with the situation.

"Damn it! I can't believe they took Erza and Happy away we were unconscious! How sad that is!" The Ice Mage stormed.

"An accurate assessment… to think a Mage as able as Erza-san would be defeated…" Juvia said with a sigh and Gray felt anger towards her. Who was she to talk about Erza? She didn't know Erza, she didn't know about Erza's strength or anything at all!

"Ain't no way she was beaten. You don't know the first thing about Erza." The venom in his words so clear that he could see the hurt in her eyes as she asked for his forgiveness while Lucy asked him to calm down. He took a few breaths and sat next to Natsu.

There were too many women troubling him at the moment: Erza had been kidnapped, Lucy was worried and he had yelled at Juvia, his soul mate (according to the Clock). He stared at Juvia by the corner of his eyes and saw her sad expression, feeling guilty immediately. She hadn't said it with ill intention, it was just something anyone would assume and yet he snapped at her.

He stared at his zeroed Clock and sighed; once, when he was just a silly child, he thought that Erza was his soul mate, but her Clock was zeroed by the time they met while his still ticked, indicating that he still had almost a decade more to find his soul mate. His feelings for Erza didn't change, though, not until he was old enough to understand that her heart was closed romantically to anyone else other than her soul mate. Plus, he wouldn't know the first thing to do to win her over; so, he was happy with being friends with her.

Then, his soul mate had appeared out of nowhere, messing with his life, making him feel protectiveness he only felt for the people he had known for the half of his life. She was an odd cookie, that was sure. But then, what else life would throw at him other than the craziest woman on earth?

Even so, he felt tenderness for her, with her odd clothes and odd hair. Later he would have to apologize for his rudeness.

**#**

She did indeed join Fairy Tail and a part of Gray was happy about it – she deserved a home, just like everyone else – but the other half didn't like it at all; he never wanted his soul mate, he didn't need a weakness or a distraction.

But there she was and if it was up to her, she wasn't leaving anytime soon.

Master Makarov put them on missions together so Gray could keep an eye on her, but the Ice Mage had the impression that the older man was playing matchmaking and he didn't like it. Juvia, on the other hand, didn't bring the Clock subject, but he often caught her staring at her wrist and sometimes at his.

Why hadn't she brought it up, if she acted so silly and jealous around him, then?

**#**

During the Battle of Fairy Tail many things were revealed, but what surprised Gray the most was the tale Cana told him about how brave Juvia had been during the fight.

"She disabled herself, Gray." The brunette informed him. "For a moment there, I thought she was going to attack me, but she'd rather hit Laxus' Lachryma than hurt me." Cana looked to his wrist pointedly and the Ice Mage suddenly felt self-conscious, hiding his hand on his pocket. There was an unspoken rule about not talking about the zeroed Clocks until both parties were in agreement over a relationship. "She's one of the good ones, Gray."

"I know." He mumbled.

"Don't make her wait too long." Cana tapped over her own zeroed Clock. "Waiting sucks." Gray looked away and the brunette sighed. "Fine. Just so you know, Mira was asking for you about Fantasia. She says that she has the perfect costume for you." The man frowned with the tone of Cana's words, but shrugged it off.

Later, he found out exactly why she had been smirking: Mirajane had planned for him to dress as a Prince (and as far as costumes went, it was better than last years, where she dressed him as a snowman) and Juvia as a Princess.

"Gray, I need you to go up there and create an ice castle, do you understand?" Mirajane said excitedly while the man tried to adjust his cape trying his best not to look in Juvia's direction. Mirajane and the Master were conspiring against him; that was the only explanation! "Juvia, you stay up there with him and just use your water around to create a beautiful effect. You'll be up in a couple of minutes! Go on, Gray, do your Magic!" The white haired woman left to coordinate the others, and Gray nodded and created the castle just like Mira wanted, full of details.

"It looks beautiful, Gray-sama!" Juvia beamed by his side, smiling brightly. "This is so much fun! Juvia is having so much fun."

The Ice Mage couldn't help but to chuckle. "I can see that." He studied her face for a moment. "Are you okay? Cana told me about the Lachryma…"

"Juvia is tough, as she's sure Gray-sama remembers." The blunette winked and he rolled his eyes. He remembered, alright; hard to ever forget a match with her. "Juvia's had worst back in the day, she's just a teeny tiny sore."

"You'll feel it later once the excitement of Fantasia is over." Gray informed her, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe." She shrugged. "But later is later. Right now, Juvia is about to be part of something fantastic and she can't barely wait."

Gray nodded and started to climb the steps up to the car and when he was three steps up, he offered her his hand. "Come on. This fantastic something won't happen on its own."

The smile he received as reward for those words made his heart beat faster and a warmth spread through his chest, and for the first time, he wondered if the Clock was _right_.

**#**

Gray was sure that the Clock had not been mistaken when he went to Edolas and met his counterpart there. Even so very different in personality, it was still 'him'. That world had the same count down as Earth and while Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy went to town to properly '_expel_' Jellal from the Guild, Edo-Gray approached him, still shaking in fear of losing Magic and pointed to Gray's wrist.

"Oh, your Clock zeroed."

Gray nodded and then pointed towards Edo-Juvia's direction. "You two…"

"Oh, yes." Edo-Gray pulled his sleeve up to show it to the other man, proudly. "Mine and Juvia-chan's Clock zeroed when we met." Edo-Gray had a silly smile on his face and his counterpart groaned with how silly the other looked. "Yours?"

Gray stared down to his wrist. "Yes, mine stopped when I met my Juvia. I mean, the Juvia from back home."

"I guess we are meant to be, then." Edo-Gray's gaze was soft as he watched his Juvia talk with Edo-Lucy. "She looks so tough, but she's actually soft inside. She's afraid of letting me in. Juvia-chan makes fun of my clothes, but I can see that it's just her mechanism to keep me away." Edo-Gray grinned to his counterpart. "It won't work, though. I am so in love with her that I don't mind waiting until she's ready. It might be tomorrow, it might be in twenty years… It doesn't matter."

The Ice Mage was surprised with how comfortable Edo-Gray was with his own feelings; the image of Earth's Juvia popped on his mind. "Won't you grow tired of waiting?"

Edo-Gray shook his head. "Never. A little frustrated from time to time? Sure. But you don't rush for your perfect match, you wait until it's ready to be enjoyed. She's warming up to me and one day, I shall marry her" his eyes sparkled "and when that day comes, I want her to have no doubts."

Before Gray could answer, he started to glow, an indication that they were returning home. He'd have time to think about his counterpart's answer later.

**#**

He shouldn't have sent her after the pink haired girl and Zeref. He should've told her to stay with him. Gray was worried, wondering if he should go after her. Something had happened for her not to be there yet. He touched his Clock and wished that she was there.

"Hey… you… guys!" Gray heard her voice coming weakly from between the woods.

"Juvia! You're okay?" Apparently the Ice Mage's voice was the medicine she needed; she managed to talk louder.

"Juvia is sooo sorry…" She cried. Actually she was genuinely embarrassed about it. Gray sent her on a mission and she failed it. "Juvia let Zeref get awaaaay…" Then, in a moment, she moved her ass towards the Ice Mae. "Gray-sama, please, punish me! Give it to me however you like… Waaah." She whined.

Erza shook her head with a small smile. She would give them a little space and ask later what was about Zeref. But at that moment, they needed some time to heal their wounds.

"I… I don't have those kinds of hobbies!" Gray put a hand, making the universal sign of 'stop', but didn't look away from the Water Mage's… assets.

"But I doooo!" She let it out and stopped a moment, a little embarrassed with Lily's '_Hey_', making her remember that they were not alone. In fact the entire Guild was there, celebrating.

"Get up, Juvia!" Gray said in frustration.

"Juvia's legs are a bit sore." She didn't look to the Ice Mage in shame.

"I can help you, Juvia…" Lily said but Gray was already picking her up. The cat raised an eyebrow. "Or _Gray_ can help you." He said with smugness on his face.

"Shut up." Gray had one of Juvia's arms arounf his neck, while his hand was on her waist. The blue haired woman blushed hard.

"G-G-Gray-sama you're injured as well…" She gasped in surprise with his actions.

"Well, I can walk, unlike you." He rolled his eyes and lead her between their friends until he spotted Wendy. "Oi, Wendy. Juvia's hurt."

"Be right there, Gray!" The Sky Dragon Slayer answered.

"Not necessary, Wendy-san!" Juvia replied and Gray gave her the stinking eye: she was clearly hurt! What was she thinking? "It's nothing life threatening. Juvia can heal the old fashioned way."

"Juvia…" Gray growled. "You can't _walk_."

"And Wendy-san looks like she's done too much with her magic already, Gray-sama." Juvia whispered so only Gray could hear. "Everyone is injured; the only thing wrong with Juvia is that her legs are a bit sore."

Gray looked down to her for a second and gave in. She was very determined and it didn't look like she was about to drop dead.

"Fine." He mumbled to her and then said a little louder to the Sky Dragon Slayer "It's alright, Wendy. Juvia is not that hurt."

"Are you sure?" Wendy came closer to where the couple was standing. "Your clothes are all ripped apart, Juvia-san!" She said in surprise. "Yet, no visible wounds."

"Juvia's body is made of water, Wendy-san." She smiled softly to the 12-year-old. "It's difficult for her to get hurt."

"I'll bandage her legs, Wendy." Lisanna said coming closer to the three people. "If I think she needs your help I'll call you, okay?"

"Okay." Wendy finally gave in. "I'll go check on Levy now. Call me, alright?"

"She's such a hard worker." Lisanna smiled and looked to the couple. "So, partner, your clothes were so cute before, you know… being torn apart." The white haired woman giggled.

"Juvia has more." The water mage informed her.

"I'm gonna ask Mira-nee if she knows where your bag is. One second. Oh…" She looked around. "No privacy in here. You two go and find a quiet place on the bushes. I'll be right back." Lisanna said and went to find her sister.

Gray looked around for a moment and spotted a little place he thought it would be fine enough. "Let's go."

After finding a good spot and making sure no one could see through the bushes, Gray gently put Juvia on the ground, with her back on a tree. "Here we go." He said and stood up.

"Thank you, Gray-sama." Juvia sighed and they stayed in silence for some seconds.

Gray assessed her appearance and even though she didn't seem all that hurt, Zeref was still a priority for them.

"Juvia, I need to ask you about…" He started, but she cut him off.

"Zeref." She nodded. "He's…" The blunette looked away. "He's gone. Juvia have no idea where he went."

Gray looked at her in suspicion, he had known her for too long not to notice when she was being secretive. "Juvia… What happened? Why you were the last one to come back here?"

Juvia couldn't look at him. "Zeref's… very strong." She mumbled, ashamed about letting the dark mage get away when her Gray-sama gave the mission to take him away from Meredy.

"Did he do anything? Anything to _you_?" Gray asked concerned, he would never forgive himself if she had been hurt because of his orders.

"No." She said fast. Too fast. "Not to Juvia, but…"

"Gray? Juvia?" They heard Lisanna's voice.

"In here." Gray said loudly without taking his eyes off Juvia, who was still looking away. She was hiding something and he would get it out of her later.

"Oh, here you are." Lisanna said a few feet away from them. "Am I interrupting something?" She frowned when she felt the heavy atmosphere.

"No. We'll talk later, Juvia." Gray turned to go away.

"You can watch, Gray! I'm sure Juvia won't mind." Lisanna said, slyly.

He blushed hard. "Shut up!"

"Juvia doesn't mind, Gray-sama." It was the last thing he heard from where the girls were, besides Lisanna's laughter.

**#**

Skipping seven years to the future was annoying, but not as annoying as seeing Lyon Vastia fawn over Juvia. Couldn't he see that she was _not_ his? Gray tried to play it cool, but as soon as he was alone with his old friend, he had grabbed Lyon by the collar and snarled.

"Juvia's Clock is zeroed; yours is still going at it. _Back. Off."_

The stupid smirk on Lyon's face made Gray feel even angrier, for some reason. "Not everyone dates their soul mates after they zeroed." Lyon shrugged. "Maybe she's one of them."

Gray growled. "She is _not._"

"I don't know, Gray." The other Ice Mage chuckled. "If you take too long, she might get tired of you." The Fairy Tail Mage narrowed his eyes. "I am telling the truth! The Clock only goes so far, Gray: it shows us who we are meant to be with, not if we are going to end up with them. I have met non-Clock couples and they can be very happy."

Oh, Gray wanted to punch Lyon so, so bad. "You and her, it's _not_ happening."

"Whatever you say."

**#**

Gray had little doubt that the Clock had been wrong, but whatever doubt he had vanished when he and Juvia performed the Unison Raid during the Games to defeat Lyon and Chelia. She was his, body and soul. He finally understood that they were so connected that he didn't even need to tell her what to do when they were fighting, just he never had to tell her about how he felt at any time. She just knew.

That's why, when the little dragons were about to attack her, he didn't even think: he pushed her out of the way. All he could think about was to protect her, to let her live; and if he had to die for it, it was fine with him.

The last thing he heard was her scream of pure agony and he hated himself for hurting her, but as long as she was alive to feel it.

Memories of dying flooded him and Gray knew that Juvia had them too, because when he looked in Juvia's direction, her eyes were watery and she looked pretty angry.

"What was that..? Seeing a copy of yourself bite the dust really brings chills up the spine." He said, but stopped when he had to attack, alongside with Lyon, the little dragons that were supposed to kill him.

"Did someone warn was?" Gray asked, in wonder. "Someone…"

His attention was pulled back when a very angry Juvia (he had seen her angry, but not at him and it was a feeling he didn't like at all), turned him around. "You don't get do that. Do you understand me? You don't step in front of me to save my life."

He sighed. Did she even understand? "Juvia..."

"No. _No_." She pointed at him, angrily. "Our Clocks zeroed at the moment we met. We never talked about our Clocks, but we know, we always knew what it meant. And you must know that at the moment your life ends, mine ends too." She caught his hand and showed him his Clock. "It's _you_ and _me_, _forever_. I can't be _me _without _you_."

"I will always save you." Gray stepped closer to her, his supposed death making him bolder. And to tell the truth, seeing her red faced because she was mad at him was kind of cute.

"You will, every time you are not dead, you will save Juvia from returning to the rain if you just keep being alive."

"I'll try." He smiled at her.

"No, you won't try, you will succeed." She narrowed her eyes. "Juvia swears, if she has to see you die again, even in a dream…"

He had no idea what she was going to tell him, because his lips covered hers (Lyon yelled his name in protest). That kiss was way overdue, but Edo-Gray had been right: it was much better to be ready to give his all to her. After a few seconds he released her and Juvia was with her eyes so wide that he worried about her for a moment – he had to hold her very close to his chest, otherwise she would've fallen, before she blinked a few times very fast and finally stand on her own.

"What…? What was…?"

"Come on." He kissed her once again and then released the Water Mage. "Those Dragons won't defeat themselves."

"Gray-sama!" She shrieked when he jogged towards Lyon and Meredy so they could finish fighting and he smirked when he heard her.

"What?" He yelled over his shoulder.

"What was _that_?"

"Me, not losing time." He answered.

**#**

**AN:** This was _waaaay_ longer than what I had planned! :O I hope it was alright. ;)

06/13/2014 ~ **BonneyQ**


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